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On 4 June 2020, Luxembourg's Ministry of Finance confirmed that the proposal for a European Commission directive aimed at postponing certain deadlines for declaration and exchange of information in tax matters due to the COVID-19 pandemic has passed the final stages of approval, although this is yet to be formally published.

Following the recent publication of the Grand Ducal Regulation that authorizes the remote holding of AGMs and other management meetings (alert to be found here), the Luxembourg authorities released draft bill n°7541 on Friday 27 March 2020 to grant the possibility to prorogue or postpone the deposit and publication of annual accounts in derogation to the applicable rules.

On 13 March 2020, in response to the current COVID-19 emergency, the Luxembourg government introduced a draft law (Draft Law n. 7532) seeking to provide an aid scheme for companies in temporary financial difficulty.

As from tax year 2018, the Luxembourg tax authorities have imposed specific reporting requirements in relation to transactions of Luxembourg companies with related enterprises located in jurisdictions that are included on the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes (the EU black list).

On Friday 20 March 2020, a Grand Ducal Regulation dealing with the introduction of special rules and measures governing the organization of shareholder, Board of Directors, or other supervisory and management body meetings was issued, published in the Official Journal of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and immediately implemented into Luxembourg law.

On 4 March 2020, the Luxembourg tax authorities issued a Circular n°164ter/1 (“Circular”) clarifying article 164ter of the Luxembourg Income tax law (“LITL”) on Controlled Foreign Company (“CFC”) rules. This provision was introduced by the law dated 21 December 2018 whose main purpose was to implement ATAD1 into Luxembourg domestic tax law.

On 18 February 2020, the European Council revised the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, whose objective is to improve tax good governance. The Council has included four more jurisdictions—Cayman Islands, Palau, Panama, and Seychelles—in annex I (“black list”), in addition to the eight jurisdictions already listed.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on 11 February released final guidance on the transfer pricing aspects of financial transactions. The long-awaited release marks the first time the OECD transfer pricing guidelines (TPG) will be updated to include such guidance.

Luxembourg’s 2020 budget law, voted and published in the Official Journal, includes a new provision limiting the validity period of advance tax decisions (ATAs) issued by the Luxembourg direct tax authorities before 1 January 2015 to the end of fiscal year 2019.

On 10 October 2019, Luxembourg’s Minister of Finance and the French Minister of Economy and Finance signed an amendment to the new Luxembourg-France Tax Treaty, which was finalized on 20 March 2018 and which has since been ratified by both states.

On 8 August 2019, the draft law implementing the EU directive 2018/822, commonly referred to as DAC 6, was introduced to the Luxembourg parliament. The parliament will now debate, possibly amend and ultimately vote on the proposed text.

On 5 March 2019, Luxembourg’s Finance Minister, Pierre Gramegna presented the draft 2019 Budget Law, together with the draft law on multiannual financial planning, for the 2019-2022 period to the Chamber of Deputies.

The tax authorities announced recently that the 2018 tax return forms will be available for download on their website as of 4 February 2019.
Married couples as well as non-resident taxpayers will need to consider for the first time the tax measures introduced by the 2017 tax reform.

On 26 July, the Luxembourg Tax Authorities published a new Circular on the topic of virtual currencies, providing useful clarifications on the tax treatment of income generated through virtual currencies, particularly in the scope of their creation or disposal.

On 7 June 2017, under the framework of the OECD BEPS project, Luxembourg signed the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent BEPS (MLI), along with representatives of 67 other jurisdictions.

On 20 June 2018, the Luxembourg bill (the Bill) implementing the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive dated 12 July 2016 (ATAD 1) was published. The ATAD 1 reflects some of the actions in the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project.

Last December, the Council of the European Union approved and published conclusions containing the European Union list of non-cooperative jurisdictions. The listed jurisdictions have been considered as not yet having provided effective actions in response to the European Union concerns.

On 20 March 2018, the governments of Luxembourg and France signed a new double tax treaty and its additional protocol (hereinafter together referred to as “the new DTT”) to replace the current agreement between the two countries.

On 16 April 2018 , the Luxembourg government has lodged with the Parliament the draft bill introducing the VAT group. Long awaited, this regime aims to avoid VAT on transactions between persons closely bound by financial, economic, and organizational links.

On 20 March 2018, the governments of Luxembourg and France signed a new double tax treaty and its additional protocol (hereinafter together referred to as “the new DTT”) to replace the 60-year-old agreement between the two countries. The text of the new DTT is currently only available in French.

On Friday 16 March 2018, the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance announced that a new double tax treaty with France will be signed in the upcoming days that will modernize the 60-year-old agreement between the two countries.

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Partner | Mergers & Acquisitions

Raymond is a Tax Partner focusing on Merger and Acquisition transaction as well as Alternative Investment Funds. He has over 20 years of tax experience. He advises clients on a wide variety of interna... More

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